Romans 9:6: “But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel,”

May 4th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

When Paul says, “it is not that the word of God has taken no effect,” he meant that even though not many Jews were coming to believe in Jesus Christ, he had been traveling and preaching the gospel all over the then known world and people’s lives were being changed. We see in the Book of Acts, that Paul would first go to the synagogues where a few Jews listened and believed. Then opposition would come, and he would be denied access and frequently thrown out of the synagogues in that city. Was God’s word that he was preaching to them failing? No, Paul then went from the Jews to the Gentiles, who were more receptive. Paul explains this phenomena by writing, “they are not all Israel who are of Israel.”

One possible translation of the Hebrew name Israel is “governed by God.” Paul is saying that not all of those in the group called Israel are “governed by God.” His point is that not all the physical genetic descendants of Abraham are true heirs of the promise. Paul had a deep love for Abraham’s children, which is clearly shown by his willingness to give up his own salvation for them if that were possible: “For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh” (Acts 9:3).

Paul loved those who were of the faith, Jew or Gentile. He realized that being of Israel, being “ruled by God,” is determined by the heart surrendered to God, not by specific genetic chromosomes. Never has salvation come by membership to a group but rather by individual faith. Therefore we must conclude today that just because someone is born into a family with a strong Christian heritage, it does not guarantee that person will have a home in heaven. But once we have placed our trust in Jesus Christ, we can be confident that the promises of God (the word of God) given to us will be ours. We can be assured, like Paul, that “it is not that the word of God has taken no effect.”

“LORD, we confess to You that we trust You and Your promises to us. As Peter said, where else could we go, for You alone have the words of eternal life.”